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THE
PAPER GAME
by Captain Hook
www.treasurechests.info
September 24, 2007
Apparently we have
arrived – arrived at the point where any and all problems encountered
must now be papered over – and we’ve gone global in this
regard. You might want to listen to Jim Sinclair’s talk
on why the derivatives problem will necessarily lead us into
hyperinflation. I’m not sure I agree with all his assertions, however
the primary message is undeniable, and the market action is backing such
claims, so they must be taken seriously. In this regard, let’s take a
quick look at money supply now to ensure our thinking is on the right
track. Wouldn’t you know it, in addition to monetization efforts taking off (growing at a 14%
annualized rate), which of course we already knew about, growth rates in
visible measures including both Money At Zero Maturity (MZM)
and M2 are also going
vertical, which gold is correctly responding to then. Here, these are
not quite what would be considered hyperinflationary levels, but they
are damn close --- close enough to talk about mild hyperinflation.
The
public needed to see horrible employment numbers to justify a rate cut
at the upcoming Fed meeting, and right on cue, that’s exactly what
happened. I bring this issue to light because what’s happening in the
economy and unemployment statistics have had no correlation for years
(i.e. the US economy has been in recession since last year), so make no
mistake about it, the current guesstimate was massaged to say the least.
It didn’t need be that bad. But, the election next year is coming, and
the credit market thingy might be getting away on
officialdom; so again, they needed a bad number to justify printing more
money, and they got one. Of course this is just all part of the game –
the paper game authorities have been playing for years.
Only
thing is, now these games have come home to roost. This is the message
gold is telling us. It’s telling us that while we may only have what
could be viewed as mild hyperinflation at present, as if this isn’t
bad enough, any further strength in the metal of kings past this point
would mean we are on our way to a more severe variety hence forth, where
one would then expect to see gold going vertical as monetary authorities
continue to paper over any and all problems with increasing frequencies
of what are deemed emergency liquidity injections.
So, it appears the market has finally woken up to this reality and is
preparing for the real deal when it
comes to the larger paper game – or the climax if you will. Of course
this will take years to play out in its entirety, with continuing
prospects for gold never better from a fundamental perspective as a
sleepy population awakens.
Technically
gold has so many various counts and measures people are looking at right
now there is no telling where it’s going --- along with just how fast
it will get there. James Turk sees similarities in
current circumstances compared to 1974 when gold doubled, so he is
talking about an $800 handle. And then there are both vertical and
horizontal counts associated with the point and figure charting attached here. But
the one I like most is found in nature, where as you can see on the weekly plot found in
the Chart Room, on a ‘best fit’ basis, the resulting Fibonacci
resonance related measure is suggestive the next move of consequence for
gold should involve it’s first attempt to penetrate into four digits
at $1,000. Here is a closer look at the break out itself showing
significant diamond penetrations to the upside. (See Figure 1)
Figure
1

Next
we need to look at precious metals shares, as measured by the Amex Gold
Bugs Index (HUI). Here, the big observation is that resistance at 375 is
significant not only because it would involve the new closing high break
out discussed the other day; but more,
as you can see below such a feat would also involve a significant break
back above recently penetrated trend line related resistance, which of
course use to be support. (See Figure 2)
Figure
2

What
is the likelihood of such a break higher in precious metals shares
occurring from a technical perspective? Answer: Very good is the
messages found in the HUI / Gold Ratio are to be trusted, where once
indicated Fibonacci related resistance (at the 50% mark) indicated below
is surpassed, no significant hurdles will remain with respect to this
measure. Here, in addition to all important moving averages being
penetrated to the upside, the ‘false break’ that appeared very real
last month would become history in theory, where prices should begin
moving higher on an increasingly impulsive basis. (See Figure 3)
Figure
3

The
question then arises naturally, if gold is shooting higher along with
the price of just about everything else that moves, how can interest
rates fall? And more specifically, how can the Fed justify cutting
administered rates next week, where some pundits are talking about a
half-point to get things rolling? Moving past considerations associated
with market rates for the moment, the one thing you must always remember
about the Fed is while it’s a big part of their job to confuse the
public about what they are actually up to, in the end they are the
ultimate promoters of inflation. And right now with freshly groomed Employment Report statistics (thought to be the
most important numbers) hot off the press pointing towards a
significantly contracting economy, which of course raises the specter of
deflation when combined with an unfolding credit crisis, you
better believe a panic on their part is also likely unfolding, meaning
they view current circumstances as justifying such policy past what gold
is doing.
This
means that although market rates may not necessarily head lower in
response to an official rate cut, gold could continue to discount the
Fed is likely behind the curve, and will need to more rapidly fill the
gap. Such an understanding would be confirmed with a break higher in
gold set against stable market rates, where the only way they will be
able to handle all the problems associated with being behind the curve
will be to monetize everything in sight. A break above current
resistance in the chart below would signal all hell is breaking loose in
this regard, and that gold is on it’s way to $1,000 in discounting the
potential for financial Armageddon. (See Figure 4)
Figure
4

Increasingly
at this point in the larger cycle, one should expect to see the bond
market (paper) bypassed in favor of gold (hard assets) as more and more
people see the effects of inflation. And it won’t take long for prices
to soar once gold fever hits the general population, not too mention
governments caught out of position at the moment. Here, it is becoming
increasingly evident such foreign governments are attempting to correct such conditions, if not capitalize on a
return to hard money policies. Again, this is why the yield curve should
begin to steepen dramatically starting very soon, where administered
rates will be pressed lower by monetary officials attempting to bail out
the system set against market rates being pulled higher by increasing
numbers bypassing paper alternatives in exiting the system. Naturally
then, such a trend must necessarily benefit gold. (See Figure 5)
Figure
5

Grand Super-Cycle Tops
are times of regime change (think USDollar officially loses its reserve
currency status), of economic organizational change (a trend towards
regionalism ignites), and of currency change. What
we are talking about here is economic collapse, confusion, and panic.
This is why gold can go to $1,000 plus in coming days, as individuals
endeavor to escape this risk in exiting the current fiat system.
What’s more, and in relation to comments made in our last outing, all
this can take place in a very short period of time (a month or two), as
the precious metals market is very small. Just think about it for a
minute. As discussed the other day, it’s
being bandied about the Feds (central banks around the world) might have
to print tens of trillions of dollars to bail the system out, which of
course is ludicrous in concept because any system cannot bail itself out
entirely, but we will leave this discussion for another day.
And
with that, I am afraid we will have to cut things off here for today.
And
if you have any questions, comments, or criticisms regarding the above,
please feel free to drop us a line. We very much enjoy
hearing from you on these matters, although we may not be able to
respond back directly, so please do not be disappointed if this is the
case.
Good
investing all.
Captain
Hook

© 2007 Captain Hook
Editorial Archive
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